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Self‐Assembly of Conjugated Metallopolymers with Tunable Length and Controlled Regiochemistry
Author(s) -
Greenfield Jake L.,
Rizzuto Felix J.,
Goldberga Ieva,
Nitschke Jonathan R.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201702320
Subject(s) - conjugated system , monomer , polymer , bifunctional , polymerization , luminescence , materials science , helix (gastropod) , regioselectivity , self assembly , chemistry , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , catalysis , ecology , snail , biology
Abstract Self‐assembled materials can be designed to express useful optoelectronic properties; however, achieving structural control is a necessary precondition for the optimization of desired properties. Here we report a simple, metal‐templated polymerization process that generates helical metallopolymer strands over 75 repeat units long (28 kDa) from a single bifunctional monomer and Cu I . The resulting polymer consists of a double helix of two identical conjugated organic strands enclosing a central column of metal ions. The length of this metallopolymer can be controlled by adding monofunctional subcomponents to end‐cap the conjugated ligands. The use of ditopic and bulky monotopic subcomponents, respectively, allows a head‐to‐head or head‐to‐tail double helix to be generated. Spectroscopic measurements of different polymer lengths demonstrate how control over polymer length leads to control over the electronic and luminescent properties of the resulting material, thereby enabling tunable white‐light emission.